• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Swaro Eyepieces (1 Viewer)

E

Eliter7

Well-known member
Have a ATS 80HD with a 20-60 S Zoom eyepiece but had a look at same scope with a 30x SW lense which looked to have better field of view, light and colour/detail than my zoom one at even 20x zoom. Was this just my imagination or are these 30 and 45x SW eyepeices really that much better. If so any ideas or recommendations on the 30 or 45x.
Thanks for any help.
 
Last edited:
Eliter7 said:
Have a ATS 80HD with a 20-60 S Zoom eyepiece but had a look at same scope with a 30x SW lense which looked to have better field of view, light and colour/detail than my zoom one at even 20x zoom. Was this just my imagination or are these 30 and 45x SW eyepeices really that much better. If so any ideas or recommendations on the 30 or 45x.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

I haven't had a fixed lens though am looking for one now. I guess the fixed lenses for scopes are the same as fixed lenses on cameras, because they don't have the compromise of having to move parts of the optics the internal path must be wider therefore brighter and you can have a wider angle for the same length of eyepiece.
 
I have the ATS 80HD with the x30 and the zoom. There is no comparison, when you have the x30 you will use it all the time apart from those rare occasions when maximum magnification is required to view something very distant. It is brighter, sharper and has a much wider field of view. In fact I would say there is no point in having as good a scope as this unless you use the x30 - its what it was built for.

The zoom is better for digiscoping due to its variable mag and also its better fit with the Swarovski adaptor which is perfect, unlike the x30. So have both, but keep the zoom in your pocket until you really need it.
 
I've got the 65hd and use 30x & 45x fixed as i HATE zooms,i've had a leica 77 apo before and used the 32x on it.I find zoom eyepieces do not let the scopes perform to the best of their ability.Much better to have a range of fixed eyepieces in my opinion.
Tom.

I've also tried the swaro 80hd alongside my 65 on very murky days and found that i couldn't see any difference in brightness...it will be there if you digiscope,but in normal viewing i couldn't see it(40 yr old eyes still with 6/6 vision,that's the old 20/20 version.)
 
Last edited:
Currently I have only the zoom e/p and am thinking of the 30x fixed mainly to utilise the greater eye relief for digiscoping. Can anyone tell me the diameter of the 30x e/p at the eyecup end ?

david
 
Eliter7,

Just so you will know that there is never a consensus about these things I'll register a strong dissent from the opinions expressed so far. I use Swarovski, Zeiss and Nikon zoom eyepieces and also have the Swaro 30x, Zeiss 23/30x and Nikon 24/30X fixed eyepieces. I've adapted these for use mainly on an Astro-Physics 92mm APO refractor. I've compared them many times and the only problems I see in the zooms compared to the fixed magnification eyepieces are shorter eye relief and of course narrower fields at the same magnification. Image quality at the center of the field (sharpness, brightness and contrast) is as good or even slightly better in the zooms compared to the fixed eyepieces at the same magnification. The widefield fixed eyepieces and the zooms are all complex eyepieces with a similar number of elements, but oddly enough I've found the light transmission to be slightly higher through the zooms. The Swaro and Nikon zooms in particular have very high light transmission, comparing favorably to even simple designs like Plossls and Orthoscopics . I also don't find that the zooms limit resolution at high magnifications at all, and that's in a scope with substantially higher resolution than the scopes the zooms are made for.

Having said all that I would add that I think the Swaro 30X is the best widefield eyepiece I've seen from any source. Sharpness really is almost perfect to the edge and with only slight barrel distortion. Eye relief is 20mm even though the effective focal length of the eyepiece is only 15.4mm.

David,

The 30x tapers to a narrower width than the zoom at the eyecup end, about 50mm.
 
henry link said:
The 30x tapers to a narrower width than the zoom at the eyecup end, about 50mm.
Click to expand...

Henry thank you for the info. I want to try before I buy the 30x and need to make a new disgiscoping adapter to accommodate the smaller diameter.

david
 
Many thanks for all replys. I think im going to have to test one out before i consider buying as some divided opinion but some things to consider.
Thanks.
 
Does any one know if the new swarovski eyepeices for the ATS scopes will fit on the old swarovski AT range scopes. I am sure somewhere on this forum i have read that they do, or it may have been the other way around.. or i could be mad. 8-P
I have a swarovski AT80 HD and am intersted in a 30x lens but won't be changing the scope just yet..

Cheers

Rich
 
Yes.

The AT and ATS eyepieces are interchangable. In fact an off the record comment from a Swaro rep was that with the new ep on the old scope they are as good as the new ones.

I use a new 20-60 on an st80hd and they are as good opticaly.
 
PWG said:
In fact an off the record comment from a Swaro rep was that with the new ep on the old scope they are as good as the new ones.
Click to expand...

That is very true. A friend has this new+old, and we compared with my new+new. No difference. Which proves once again that "the eyepice a scope makes". A scope is only as good as it's eyepiece.
I had an older scope (80 mm) that was on the cheap side 15 years ago, and a new $300 Pentax eyepiece. I managed to build an adaptor, and you won't believe the result!
 
Luca,

Even the best eyepiece can do nothing to salvage the image of a mediocre or poor scope. Granted, there are poor eyepieces out there, but among the top makes and models, the main eyepiece-related variables are eye-relief, field of view, and sharpness towards the edge of the field. From what I have been able to see, consistency in eyepiece quality tends to be very good indeed - I have seen hardly any lemons among eyepieces.

There would be much more truth to a saying such as "a scope is only as good as its objective," but the real determinant is the quality of the objective - focussing lens system (if there is one) - prism system chain overall.

Paul and Rich,

The best specimen of the older Swarovski series, the AT/ST 80 HD were just as sharp as the best specimen of the new ATS/STS series. In addition, since the older scope had a simpler design with fewer optical elements and therefore fewer variables to worry about, the quality was perhaps more consistently first-rate. This last assertion is based on accumulated experience from looking through a fairly large number of units of both types, but is naturally not a "scientific" or "statistically significant" finding, and needs to be understood in a proper context. Of course, what always matters is the quality of the very scope one is using.

The new Swaro scopes are a little brighter, have a more neutral color balance (the most neutral on the market according to some reliable-looking tests) and exhibit better contrast if the specimen are otherwise equally good.

The AT/ST model has a roughly 5% longer focal length than the ATS/STS, and consequently the new eyepieces if used on an old scope will give a magnification 5% greater than nominal, with the zoom becoming ca 21-63x. I have been told that the old scope vignettes with the new 20x wideangle eyepiece, but that other new eyepieces work well with the old scopes.

Kimmo
 
kabsetz said:
The new Swaro scopes are a little brighter, have a more neutral color balance (the most neutral on the market according to some reliable-looking tests) and exhibit better contrast if the specimen are otherwise equally good.

The AT/ST model has a roughly 5% longer focal length than the ATS/STS, and consequently the new eyepieces if used on an old scope will give a magnification 5% greater than nominal, with the zoom becoming ca 21-63x. I have been told that the old scope vignettes with the new 20x wideangle eyepiece, but that other new eyepieces work well with the old scopes.
Click to expand...
Kimmo & all,

I have an old AT body with the (locking) old zoom and the new 20xSW - and your comments match perfectly with my experience. I have seen a graph of light transmission spectrum of the ATS, which shows that the ATS is both very bright and there are no "measurable" colour casts. However, almost all the other scopes produce a warmer image, which makes the ATS image comparatively look cold/blue. I don't know the design differences of the AT vs. ATS, but judged by the digiscoping performance I would hazard to claim that the ATS is slightly better corrected against CA (but I can't exclude the possibility of sample variation).

Regarding vignetting with the 20xSW, there *may* be some vignetting, but the view is really wide and the field edges are so sharp that this eyepiece is totally usable on the older AT-body (IMHO, much more useful than the 45x). If only it had slightly better eye-relief, it would be a fantastic digiscoping-eyepiece - now you have a limited selection of compatible cameras.

Best regards,

Ilkka
 
Eliter7 said:
Have a ATS 80HD with a 20-60 S Zoom eyepiece but had a look at same scope with a 30x SW lense which looked to have better field of view, light and colour/detail than my zoom one at even 20x zoom. Was this just my imagination or are these 30 and 45x SW eyepeices really that much better. If so any ideas or recommendations on the 30 or 45x.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Hi
Just thought that I would make the following observation,no technical answer purely personal preference.I bought my Swaro scope with the 20-60x eyepiece, when I started digiscoping I read somewhere that better results were obtained when using a fixed eyepiece so I invested in a 30x eyepiece I now very seldom use my zoom lens the 30x eyepiece seems so much better for my birding needs.
Rick
 
tom24 said:
I've got the 65hd and use 30x & 45x fixed as i HATE zooms
Click to expand...

Does anyone have observations on the performance of the 45x when using eyeglasses? I use the 30x very happily, but could occasionally use the extra mag. The zoom is a bit difficult with my glasses, and the local stores only stock the zoom so I can't compare the 45x.
 
I have the 20-60x and the 30xSW - 90% I use the 20-60x wearing spectacles without difficulty. It's crisp and bright enough for me and has the advantage of zooming in when needed. The 30x though is definitely a lot wider and brighter view.
 
I am thinking of getting the ATS80 and am undecided on the eyepiece to get. I have always used a 30x ep, sometimes wishing that I had a zoom. I can only get one ep at the moment so opinions on either a fixed or zoom apprieciated. This forum has helped already.
Cheers
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

ajfossey
Swarovski CTS 85 Extendable Draw Tube Telescope
Replies
6
Views
1K
CharleyBird
CharleyBird
S
Swarovski repair costs
Replies
2
Views
3K
sbradfield
S
W
Fieldscope Eyepiece 20x/30x/38x wide MC
Replies
10
Views
944
Astroguy2000
A
N
Monarch 82 or 60 with fixed 38/30x eyepiece?
Replies
3
Views
1K
KaterinBortle9
KaterinBortle9
T
Which Zoom Eyepiece for Kowa 663M Opticron SDLV3 or Baader Hyperion Mark IV
Replies
7
Views
1K
jrp jr
J

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top